The jail from which former soldier Daniel Khalife escaped “really needs closing”, the prisons watchdog said.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said “in an ideal world” Wandsworth would be shut, but “there are only just enough prisons” for the population of inmates.

Wandsworth prison’s performance was rated a “serious concern” and watchdogs had issued a string of warnings about the jail in the past year before Khalife escaped.

The category B reception and resettlement men’s prison, which opened in 1851, is one of only nine jails out of 119 in England and Wales whose performance has been called into question recently.

 

Governor Katie Price presides over the Victorian jail, which holds about 1,600 defendants appearing at London courts and offenders due to be released, in five wings.

Mr Taylor told Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge on Sky News: “When you find a prison like Wandsworth, it really needs closing. Ultimately, it’s not a suitable prison.”

But, he added: “You need jails because you need to service the courts. We’ve actually got a crisis at the moment in prisons just in terms of population places.

“So there are only just enough prisons, places available, at the moment for the number of prisoners who are coming in.”

Mr Taylor said staff shortages are “the source of many problems” at HMP Wandsworth.

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While it is “concerning when anybody escapes from prison” and they are “now very rare”, the nature of the allegations against Khalife made this case “extremely concerning”, he added.

Who is Daniel Abed Khalife?

Khalife was held at Belmarsh prison but later transferred to Wandsworth, according to reports.

He has links to north-west England and Kingston in London but Mr Murphy said the hunt is covering the whole of the UK.

The 21-year-old appeared at the Old Bailey in late July where he denied the charges he is facing.

He is accused of eliciting or trying to elicit information that could be useful for a terrorist on August 2 2021, and breaching the Official Secrets Act by gathering information that could be useful to an enemy between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022.

The ex-serviceman is also accused of a criminal offence relating to the alleged bomb hoax.

It is claimed that he placed “three cannisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation” with the intention of inducing in another a belief this was “likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property”.

A trial date has been set for November 13 at Woolwich Crown Court.

How the public can help in the search for Daniel Abed Khalife

Khalife is 6ft 2in and was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel-toe-cap boots, the Metropolitan Police said.

He is slim with short brown hair.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “We have a team of officers who are making extensive and urgent enquiries in order to locate and detain Khalife as quickly as possible.

“However, the public can help us as well and should anyone see Khalife, or have any information as to where he might be, then please call 999 immediately.

“I also want to reassure the public that we have no information which indicates, nor any reason to believe that Khalife poses a threat to the wider public, but our advice if you do see him is not to approach him and call 999 straight away.”

According to Sky News, a spokesperson for the force added: "An alert was issued by the Counter Terrorism Command earlier today in relation to Khalife through established operational briefing channels to relevant UK police and law enforcement agencies, including those at UK ports and borders."

The public should not approach Khalife if they believe they have seen him, instead, they should call 99 immediately and quote reference CAD 1631/06SEP23.